Basketball weekend

We spent Friday and Saturday night at Papa Bears work for the last two basketball games. Friday was Think Pink Night. Brother sported a pink polo and was looking pretty spiffy. Sister had on a dress with her pink sparkle shoes and every necklace she owns. On Saturday night the guys all gave Brother a card with a gift card in it. Sister enjoys helping out her dad too. She pulls coolers and puts ice bags in the coolers.
Brother ended up not feeling well Saturday night so he didn't help past halftime. He went into the training room and laid on a table and watched tv.

Ladies Man

This past weekend Papa Bear had to go to Eastern Washington for basketball. Its about a 5 hour drive. They left on Thursday afternoon. Brother Bear didn't have school on Friday because of Presidents Day so he was allowed to go along. Every once in awhile he gets to go on an out of town trip with Papa. Brother is Papa's helper on the bench, passing out water bottles and towels. I went to get him early from school on Thursday. He was pretty excited to miss the Valentines party in his class. He didn't miss out on the valentines though! The women's team travels and plays the same schools as the men's team. They came prepared with Hannah Montana valentines for Brother.

I don't think he's too embarrassed....he's smiling.

No Snow

No snow.

This is the first year since we moved here in 2005 that we haven't had any snow.

We don't get alot of snow here, so I think it's still fun and exciting when we do get snow.

The kids are bummed.

Their aunt gave them this awesome snow paint to use.

It's been put in the closet.

Maybe we'll get to use it this winter.

We might just have to save it for next winter.

Guess for now I'll just have to look at old pictures of the snow.

Stickers

We went to the store the other day and the kids got these stickers from the checker while we were in line. They stuck them on their foreheads and just laughed and laughed. Sister would take hers off and check if her eyebrows were still there. Brother said he had a uni-brow and then asked if there was such a thing.

Broken Comb

Papa Bear did Sister's hair the other day. For those of you who have never seen Sister when she wakes up, the back of her hair is a rats nest in the morning. I use a detangler spray on her hair when I comb it out. I don't think Papa knew that. So, he set about to do Sister's hair.

I am in the other room and I hear "oh no you broke the comb." Her rats nest was so strong it broke the comb. Brother comes upstairs and sees the broken comb.
Brother- "hey my comb is broken."
Mama- "you don't comb your hair." His hair is getting very long and shaggy. Half the time he goes to school without combing it.
Brother- "but when I do comb it that's the one I use."

Saturday

Saturday here at the Bear Household. Nothing much to say since nothing much is going on right now.
Sister Bear is in her room coloring before she takes a nap.
Brother Bear is at a friends house.
Papa Bear is at work.
I am reading family blogs and paying bills on-line, anything to keep me from the large piles of laundry on the couch that need to be folded.
After I pick Brother up we will head on over to the university for the basketball game. Brother helps Papa on the bench. Sister sits in the stands and spreads the contents of her backpack on the bleachers while cheering for her favorite players.
So, that is life at our house on this drizzly Saturday in January.

Underwear

Sister Bear has been potty trained since early September. I've been lucky both of my kids were very easy to do. Sister Bear is still so proud of using the toilet and wearing underwear. She loves her Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell underwear. We will see someone with diapers in a shopping cart or a commercial on television for diapers and she will turn and tell you "I don't wear diapers anymore, I wear underwear!" I'd been putting her in pull-ups at bedtime because I didn't want to mess with having any accidents and having to change sheets in the middle of the night. Every night at bedtime Sister would look at you with those big blue eyes and say I want to wear underwear to bed. Finally I gave in the other night and so far we have had four nights of success!!!! Yay!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER BEAR!!!!!

Brother Bear turned 10 today!!!!! Where has the time gone??? Seems like it was just yesterday we had his first birthday at the little house on Harwood St. He sat in his highchair not sure of what he was supposed to do with the cake in front of him. He wasn't one of those kids who dug right in, he didn't like getting his hands dirty.

Lucky Brother!!!! Today the schools observed MLK day, so he had the day off of school for his birthday. He had a friend spend the night after his party. This morning we got up and went to Seattle to Beth's Cafe. We like to watch Man vs. Food on the travel channel and this is one of the places he went to. They have a 12 egg omelet, with unlimited hash browns. The guy didn't finish the challenge on Man vs. Food, but we had big plans to.

Beth's Cafe is 50 years old and you can tell. The service was quick and the food was pretty tasty. They give the kids a cup of crayons and a handful of paper to color on. The walls in the place are covered with peoples drawings.

We ordered the 12 egg ham and cheese omelet with hash browns and sourdough toast. Sister Bear isn't too keen on eggs so she had a giant pancake. They bring the omelet out on what looks like a pizza pan and it is definitely big. So Papa, Brother, his friend and I went to work on meal. Between the four of us we cleaned the tray. Good thing we had a birthday dinner last night because I don't think we'll be hungry come dinnertime.

Party!!!

Brother Bear had his birthday party today. It's always tough trying to figure out something to do for his birthday. I don't really want a handful of boys rough housing in my house. If we could play outside, no problem, but up here in the Pacific Northwest that usually isn't an option this time of year. Well, we could but they would come back in wet cold and muddy. So, we had the party over at Papa Bears office. Think this might just be the future of all birthday party locations. Had the whole gym to ourselves. Papa Bear led the boys in field hockey, soccer, dodge ball and flag football. They took a few snack and magic juice breaks, had some cake (chocolate) and opened a few presents. I think the boys had a good time. They were red faced and sweaty when the party was over.

After the party we let Brother have one friend spend the night. We had his favorite meal (spaghetti) for dinner. Had a good laugh watching Americas Funniest Home Videos. The boys slept downstairs and watched Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. They were pretty tired because there wasnt any talking past 10:30.

Bowling

For Christmas we got a Wii. So very fun! It's great that we can all play together. Sister Bear thinks she's playing too! Brother Bear has knocked me out a handful of times in the boxing and he thinks that is pretty great. Notice the bowling styles of Grandpa, Papa Bear and Brother. Can you pick out which one is the bowler?

Zoo Lights

Granny and Grandpa came to visit on Christmas Day. While they were here we didn't have any rain, except for maybe one day. One night we went out to dinner at the Ram. I was excited I had two coupons for free kids meals, but I didn't use them. Turns out on Sunday nights kids eat for a $1! So we saved them for another time. After dinner we were bundled up and headed over to the zoo for zoo lights. It was a crowded night. We had to park at the park and right a school bus in to the zoo.

Christmas Day Recap

We had a very merry Christmas at the Bear household. On Christmas Eve we went to church. That was quite an experience with Sister Bear. Try keeping her quiet. She was very cute trying to sing along with the hymns and clapping when they were over. At one point during the service there was a children's moment. Brother Bear took her up front and sat with her and she went very willingly. Papa and I were sitting, in the back of the church, wondering what she would do. Randomly she got up and walked straight back to where we were sitting. I figured she was done, so I tried to get her to sit back down with me. Oh no...she just wanted to get her purple crayon and then she headed right back up and sat back down with the rest of the kids.

I told Brother that he had to stay in bed until 8am. At about 7:45 I heard him get up and go into the bathroom and then get back in bed. 7:59 rolled around and he was right there by my bedside. Sister Bear was still asleep. I went down and turned the tree lights on and the heater while Papa Bear got up. Someone (Brother) woke up Sister. She is definitely NOT pleasant if you wake her up. If she wakes up on her on she is happy and talking non stop.

We went down and opened presents. The kids had a great time. Papa and I didn't do presents for each other, except for the U2 concert tickets I bought for us. So we have that to look forward to in June. After opening presents it was cleanup and cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Lets not forget the Home Alone marathon that was on either. Papa and Brother were off to the airport to pick up Granny and Grandpa who were coming for a visit. I stayed home to clean up the house, make some fudge, and Sister took a much needed nap.

Later Papa hooked up the Wii for Brother who had been waiting patiently to try it out. An evening of bowling and boxing. I got knocked out. After dinner we went for a walk in the neighborhood to look at Christmas lights. When the young Bears were in pj's we watched Home Alone again. Finally it was time for all of us tuckered Bears to climb into bed.

Santa Part Two

Update: Here are some pictures from our day with Santa. Good thing mom had some snacks in her purse. Notice the smile with the snowman. Why couldn't we have had that smile with Santa?

I forgot to post that Sister agreed to go and have her picture taken with Santa. So both of the kids got spiffied up and off the mall the four of us went. Oh, did I mention we went to the mall on December 23rd? We walked in the mall doors and got in line at 11:00 am. Two hours later it was our turn!!!! Sister knew what she was there to do. Her and Brother were going to have their picture taken with Santa. So we head up to Santa and Brother gets on one knee and someone just stands there and stares at him. She did not want to sit on his lap. At least she was not one of the screaming hysterical kids, she just had a look of pure panic and kept trying to get away. But she took one for the team and sat still long enough to get a picture. One child has a nice smile, the other a sourpuss look of fear. But we had a nice time standing in line together for a family.

Santa

Update: I found these old pictures of Brother Bear with Santa

I wanted to take Sister Bear to have her picture taken with Santa. I have a picture of Brother Bear at this age with Santa. We were at the mall a few days before Thanksgiving and Santa was already there. Personally, I don't think Santa should be at the mall until after Thanksgiving. Well, he wasn't busy so my friend took her 2yr old daughter up and Santa read her a story. He is a very nice/clean looking Santa and he has been at our mall for a few years. I tried to take Sister Bear up too, but she wanted no part of Santa. She wouldn't look at him and wanted me to pick her up. When he was done reading the story to my friends daughter, he gave her a candy cane. He asked me if he could give one to Sister. As quick as she could, she took the candy cane and said thank you and turned away. I asked Sister if she would have her picture taken if Brother was in the picture and she said "no but Brother could have his taken with Santa." Maybe next year.

November Is Over

Since it is basically the middle of December, I figured I'd better do a little recap of November. For the most part I think November was pretty uneventful here in the Bear household. Brother Bear was busy with school and soccer. Sister Bear was just busy with everything it is she does and talking non stop. Papa Bear was busy with football and basketball. And, I was just trying to keep track of everyone. We had an early turkey day because Papa had to go to Wisconsin with the basketball team. So, I think that basically sums up November.

Brother Bear Soccer Season.
13 games, 27 goals

Trick-or-Treat

We had a dry Halloween!!!! It wasn't too cold either. The first year we lived here it was pouring on Halloween. I remember I took Brother Bear to a few houses on our street and we came home. One of our neighbors gave him their whole bowl of candy because barely anyone was out that year. The other years it has been cold!!!!!!!!!

Last night we went over to some friends house and had homemade soup and then the kids went trick-or-treating. This was the first year that Sister Bear went up to the door. She was so cute and so polite with her thank you's after she got candy

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Sounders Game

We recently went to the Seattle Sounders soccer game. Papa Bear knows someone who has a suite at the stadium and they invited us to the game with us. It was great! So close to the field. Brother Bear had a super time. He is really into soccer right now. Sister Bear and a fun time too! We even saw Drew Carey.

Pumpkin Patch

It was a nice Sunday so we decided to head out the the pumpkin patch. I think everyone else had the same idea because it was pretty crowded. We enjoyed a hayride, checked out the animals, had some kettle corn and fresh strawberry lemonade. Oh, and of course we picked out some pumpkins.

Summer Recap Part Five

So I am lazy with the updating. I'll finish the summer off with a slideshow of our camping trip with Granny, Grandpa and Aunt Carly.

Summer Recap Part Four - Grayland State Park

e end of July we headed out to the WA coast for a camping trip with some friends. We've lived here for four years and I had never been to the beach. Our neighbors told us about this campground. It books really quickly. We were lucky and managed to get a site because someone had cancelled. The weather was perfect. It was super hot at home-104 degrees the day we got home. So the weather at the beach was perfect. Our friends have kids the same age as us, so both brother and sister had someone to hang out with.